How much does IT outsourcing cost? 2026 price guide

Billing models — which one to choose

• Flat fee per seat (PLN 150–350/mo) — the most common model for companies of 10–150 people. A fixed, predictable amount covering helpdesk, monitoring and administration. The price scales with the guaranteed response time.
• Flat fee per environment — one amount for the whole infrastructure (servers, network, users). Convenient for unusual setups, e.g. many devices, few people (manufacturing, logistics).
• Hourly rate (PLN 150–250/h, €35–60) — for companies that need IT only occasionally. Note: above 5–6 hours a month, a flat fee almost always works out cheaper.
• Hour bundle (e.g. 10 h/mo at a lower rate) — a compromise for small companies; the key question is whether unused hours roll over to the next month.

What actually drives the price

• Guaranteed response time — a 15-minute response for critical incidents costs more than "within 4 hours". This is the strongest pricing lever in the whole contract.
• Servers and critical services — each physical or virtual server typically adds PLN 300–600/mo (patching, backup, monitoring, restore tests).
• Coverage hours — standard 8×5 vs 24/7 on-call; full coverage raises the fee by 30–50%.
• On-site work — regular office visits cost more than remote support; in Warsaw the difference is usually 10–20% of the fee.
• Compliance requirements — NIS2, GDPR, ISO 27001 or corporate customers' audit requirements mean extra documentation and reporting.
• Current state — a neglected environment (no documentation, legacy systems) means higher costs in the first months or a one-off clean-up fee.

Sample quotes (2026)

The ranges below come from typical configurations we quote for companies in Warsaw and Mazovia. Treat them as a benchmark, not an offer — the exact price always follows an audit.

• 10-seat office, no on-prem server, Microsoft 365: PLN 1,800–2,500 (€420–580) net/mo. Remote helpdesk, M365 administration, mailbox and endpoint backup, basic monitoring.
• 35-seat company, file server + ERP, 2 locations: PLN 5,500–9,000 (€1,300–2,100) net/mo. guaranteed response within 1 hour (15 min for critical issues), network and VPN care, on-site visits, monthly report.
• 120-seat company, 3 branches, shift work: PLN 18,000–30,000 (€4,200–7,000) net/mo. 24/7 on-call for critical systems, dedicated account engineer, licence and procurement management, periodic restore tests.

Hidden costs — what to ask before signing

1. Onboarding fee — some providers charge 1–2 monthly fees for onboarding. Ask exactly what it covers and whether it can be waived with a longer contract.
2. Tool licences — antivirus/EDR, backup software and remote management (RMM) may be included or charged per device (PLN 10–40/mo each). Ask for a breakdown.
3. Out-of-scope work — projects (server migration, office move) are usually billed separately. Agree the project rate up front, not after the fact.
4. Travel and after-hours work — check whether on-site visits and night interventions are within the fee or carry a multiplier (typically ×1.5–2).
5. Notice period and exit fees — the market standard is 1–3 months without penalties. Longer lock-ins or a "documentation handover fee" are a red flag.

Outsourcing vs in-house IT — the maths

An IT administrator in Warsaw earns PLN 9,000–14,000 gross in 2026, which with employer costs means PLN 11,000–17,000 (€2,500–4,000) per month — plus training, tools and absences (holidays and sick leave leave the company without support). And one person never knows networks, servers, cloud and security equally well.

For comparison: the flat fee for a 30-seat company is PLN 5,000–8,000 net per month for access to a whole team — from helpdesk to a security engineer. An in-house hire usually starts to pay off above 80–100 seats, and even then a hybrid model works best: an internal IT coordinator plus an external partner for maintenance and security.